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Entry bubble Space, My Final Frontier

By: Ginger | September 12, 2008 | Category: Fun

Hi, my name is Ginger and I am your new Friday blogger. Nicole took a position at another agency. She is a wonderful writer and a lovely person. We will all miss her.

I am one of our older bloggers on the team. When I turn 50, instead of joining the Red Hat Society, I want to start my own “quirky-gals-over-50” society. We will wear yellow rain boots and speak in Klingon (“Grutnik juju mani kerplaw!” Translation…“These hot flashes are killing me. Turn on the air conditioning and pass the estrogen!”)

Asrtonaut floating in spaceAs you have probably gathered from my Klingon remark, I am a SciFi fan. In fact, I like all things science, including astronomy. My secret dream is to be in space for my 50th birthday, so I began contemplating how to make that happen in the next 4 years. I decided to visit the Science Topics page on USA.gov to help me locate information on NASA’s astronaut selection process.

I found out that you don’t have to be a pilot or in the military to become an astronaut. Science teachers (K-12 included) may qualify on the Basic Qualification Requirements. My 3 years of science teaching in the late 80’s probably isn’t what they had in mind, but heck, you never know. Unfortunately, NASA recently finished an application selection cycle, so my application will have to wait until the next cycle… stay tuned.

If you think you may have the right stuff, here is some interesting astronaut information to get you started. Also, read how the candidates from the astronaut program class of 2004 got into the program.

If you know of any junior “astronaut wannabes”, or just some kids who are interested in space, have them visit NASA's For Students page or these other space resources.

Are you interested in space? Let me hear about it!

| View Comments [7] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: astronaut_selection   ginger   space  

Comments (7):

blue comment bubble Posted by Ginger on September 12, 2008 at 09:36 AM EDT

I've gotten a question about applying to the Astronaut Candidate Program by someone living outside the US. Applicants for the Astronaut Candidate Program must be citizens of the United States.

Civilian Applications can only be submitted through the Office of Personnel Management’s USAJOBS site www.usajobs.gov

Active duty military personnel must submit applications through the Office of Personnel Management’s USAJOBS Web site http://www.usajobs.gov and to their respective military service. Contact your military service for additional application procedures.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Thomas on September 12, 2008 at 09:59 AM EDT

Welcome to the GovGab team. Great first post. Which Star Trek series is your favorite? I had always thought that you had to be in the military to have a shot to being as astronaut. If being an astronaut is not your cup of tea, but you like to look at the stars, NASA has a great website (hubblesite.org). It is amazing some of the pictures that they have been able to take with the Hubble Telescope.

Thomas

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blue comment bubble Posted by Roger de Coverly on September 12, 2008 at 05:22 PM EDT

Ginger, welcome aboard. You will certainly fill the big shoes left for you. Incidentally, as a one time Sci-Fi maven I must tell you that that was not Klingon. It was, in fact, an obscure Yiddish dialect no longer in use. You must have gotten hold of a very old and crazy tutor.

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blue comment bubble Posted by josee on September 12, 2008 at 09:11 PM EDT

Hi Ginger............Welcome Aboard !!............Enjoyed reading what you wrote..........!!

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blue comment bubble Posted by Burton Paikoff on September 13, 2008 at 09:24 AM EDT

Welcome Ginger, I enjoyed your comments and great sense of humor. Keep up the good work and HAPPY 50 th
Burt

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blue comment bubble Posted by Ginger on September 15, 2008 at 07:49 AM EDT

Thomas, thanks for the great site. I enjoyed looking at the photos from the hubble telescope. As to my favorite episode of Star Trek, my favorites are "A Piece of the Action" and anything with Harcourt Fenton Mudd! I like 'em with some humor!

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blue comment bubble Posted by Ginger on September 15, 2008 at 08:03 AM EDT

Roger, you busted me. As you have probably guessed, I don't actually speak Klingon. However, if you happen to know the Klingon for what I said, feel free to pass it on. You never know when that phrase might come in handly!

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